Special Investigation Team Names Police Chief as Responsible for 'Jang Yoonki Mishandled Case'

Prosecution Points to National Investigation Headquarters Chief as Ultimately Responsible
Special Investigation Team Concludes: "Police Chief Caused Inadequate Investigation"

The Special Investigation Team of the National Police Agency, which has been investigating the circumstances surrounding the inadequate investigation of Jang Yoonki, who murdered a high school girl he did not know, has concluded that the frontline leadership at the time—including the Chief of Gwangsan Police Station in Gwangju—bears ultimate responsibility and has handed the case over to the prosecution.

Commissioner Kim, who directed the investigation as the head of Gwangsan Police Station in Gwangju at the time of the Jang Yoon-ki incident. Photo by Yonhap News

On the 21st, the Special Investigation Team announced that Kim Mo, the former Chief of Gwangsan Police Station in Gwangju, and Park Mo, the former head of the Criminal Division, were referred to the prosecution without detention on charges including abuse of authority, obstruction of the exercise of rights, and dereliction of duty. The Special Investigation Team has regarded Kim and Park as co-principal offenders in its application of abuse of authority and related charges.

According to the police, Kim and Park are accused of issuing improper orders to the violent crime team of the Criminal Division, which was in charge of the case in May, when Jang Yoonki murdered the high school girl. These orders allegedly prevented the team from properly investigating Jang's motive for the crime.

The Special Investigation Team determined that Kim reduced the murder charge against Jang from rape and murder to general murder in order to cover up the mishandling of a previous stalking and sexual assault case involving a Vietnamese female coworker of Jang, which had been reported via the 112 emergency hotline but was poorly handled. At that time, the police were under heavy public criticism following a poor response to a stalking case in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province, which led to murder after stalking behavior.

The Special Investigation Team concluded that Kim's instructions, relayed through Park, limited the scope of the investigation into Jang, resulting in a deficient investigation. It was especially noted that even after higher authorities—the National Investigation Headquarters and the Gwangju Police Agency—had directed investigators to determine whether Jang's murder was sexually motivated, Kim ignored these orders. The National Investigation Headquarters had directed an integrated investigation by the Criminal Division and the Women and Juvenile Division.

The conclusion of the Special Investigation Team differs from that of the prosecution, which has also been separately investigating the mismanagement of the case and has indicted former National Investigation Headquarters chief Park Seongju without detention as the ultimate responsible party. While the prosecution views the investigation supervision by the Criminal and Women and Juvenile Divisions at Gwangsan Station as 'separate' as claimed by those involved and sees responsibility for the case reduction as lying at the National Investigation Headquarters level, the Special Investigation Team assessed the responsibility as lying with the frontline leaders.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.